Zoos & Aquaria

Through investigation, advocacy and campaigns, ENDCAP seeks to ensure that, as a minimum, all European Member States (and Applicant Countries) must fully implement and enforce the requirements of the Directive 1999/22/EC (relating to the keeping of wild animals in zoos). Ultimately, ENDCAP believes that wild animals belong in the wild and at every opportunity, ENDCAP challenges the self-justifications used by zoos and, further, the concept of keeping wild animals in captivity.

The European Directive 1999/22/EC, relating to the keeping of wild animals in zoos, was adopted in Council in 1999 after ten years of political debate and negotiation. Despite the European Parliament originally proposing legislation that included a code of practice for animal care (1993), the final legislation agreed by Common Position in 1999 (between Parliament and Council) was much weaker, did not include any code of practice and is vague and non-descript in its requirements.

The Directive, which came into force in 2002 (EU=15), aims to promote wild animal species’ protection and conservation, with an obligation on Member States adopting measures for the licensing and regular inspection of zoos to strengthen the role of zoos in the conservation of biodiversity. Animal welfare is little more than an add-on within the Directive, with a requirement that zoos should aim to satisfy the biological needs of individual animal species. No further explanation is given nor is species-specific guidance provided. ENDCAP has the evidence that animals in zoos across Europe are being kept in sub-standard and unacceptable conditions.

EU Member States, which are obligated to adopt the Directive’s requirements and transpose them into national and regional laws, were slow in its implementation and in April 2003, eight of the then 15 EU Member Countries were taken to the European Court of Justice for failing to meet the implementation deadline. Eurogroup for Animals in 2006 revealed that only four Member States had effectively ensured that all their zoos are properly licensed and some other Member States had reportedly taken up to three years to transpose the Directive into national law.

In 2009, with a European Union membership of 27 European countries, preliminary investigations, by ENDCAP revealed there were still inconsistencies between Member States in the implementation of the Directive and some countries had yet to properly implement the law. Spain, Italy and Portugal received a warning from the European Commission that if they did not properly implement the Directive, they would be taken to the European Court of Justice. In May 2009 the case against Spain was taken one step further with the case being filed at the European Court of Justice. This action sent a strong message to other Member States, demonstrating that the Commission takes a breach in the Directive 1999/22/EC seriously.

Further investigations by ENDCAP have revealed additional problems relating to the effective implementation and enforcement of the Directive 1999/22/EC. These include: a lack of provisions to facilitate an understanding and the implementation of the Directive; national/regional authorities in some Member States unaware of the number of zoos to be licensed within their jurisdiction; some zoos are operating without the required license; implementation of the Directive’s requirements hampered by limited resources; and zoo personnel, vets and officially-appointed zoo inspectors lack of necessary knowledge, training and expertise to assess the conditions in zoos and ensure compliance.

Action: Support ENDCAP’s objective to ensure wild animals in zoos receive the care and protection they deserve. Sign and send a postcard or write a personal letter, expressing your concern about the poor conditions under which wild animals are kept, conditions that fail to meet even basic needs. Postcards / letters should be sent to:

European Commission, DG Environment, Rue de la Loi 200, (BERL 11/112), B-1049 Brussels, Belgium.
Email: